I’ve always had an interest in graphic design and the fne arts, but I’ve been incredibly lazy on developing a web presence based on these skills. My full name is really common, so finding me through Google is next to impossible. My preferred nickname is even more common, so finding me that way is looking for a needle in the Internet haystack. I also keep changing my Internet and social network handles quite frequently. I’ve been using the Internet since I was 9, and I’ve always been closing accounts associated with my actual name if I ever used it and I tried to be a person who can’t be found so easily via the Internet.

As far as social networks go, I have a Facebook and a Like page that I update with a daily comic strip. My personal Facebook page is locked down and is extremely private. I’m not sure if I want to change my Twitter handle back to katbot8900, because if I did I’d probably make it a private account because I’m not sure how a potential employer would feel if I had all my political commentary out on blast.

I am taking Web Design 1 and I have been learning how to code my own site, so I plan on buying a domain name with the handle I use for this blog, katbot8900 to use as a portfolio site. Karen Kavett has a great example of a portfolio site that intergrates personal projects and other social media that I aspire to have. I’d like to use WordPress as a template to code the site. I’d like to get to that point within one to two years and to become that prolific of an artist.

When I searched my name the first profile that I came across was not mine, in fact it was a Facebook profile of someone much older that I am. However the second profile was mine and it was my linked in profile that I kind of neglected, I don’t think that this is a bad thing that my linked in page showed up because, on my linked in profile I feel that my image is positive and this is great for me if I am searched by companies. The results that I received from my search simply means that I have to do a lot more work on my linked in account to make sure enough information is on there, also the information that is on there is up to date and are ones that I would like employers to see.

Also what I found when I searched my name was my sound cloud profile, and this is also a neglected account. Finding these neglected accounts is bad because I would like to have them fully functional and good because my image is not negative on these sites. My aim is to transform these sites so that they don’t look incomplete. A goal that I have is completing my portfolio site, when it is finish I would like my name to be associated with that site. This means that, I will put my name in many places as possible in an effective way on the site so that it shows up on search engines.

One of the first links that comes up when I google searched my name was a 411 site that had my name, address, and home telephone. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out how to get rid of that information entirely, I decided with the advice of Professor Smith, that it would be best to push that information down in order to highlight things that I actually want future employers to see.

With that in mind I finally began to work on a site. It’s something I had been thinking about for a while but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach it. I’m beginning with a free hosting service so the url is unnecessarily long. It’s not a bad thing as of now though. I’m going to post all my work and make it something like a portfolio and eventually I will purchase my own domain and make it legit.

For now, I think this will be a good way to push other things down.This will allow me to link my twitter, youtube, facebook, and vimeo accounts to my work and the presence that I want to show. I want to create a new facebook that’s strictly business. I want to strip the attachment of my name with my current facebook simply because it’s more of a friend and family environment and I really don’t even use it at all. I want to attach myself with something that I will use and that will be easier if I start all over and actually use it this time around.

Link

The inspiration for this Giff was derived from watching most of my Professor’s Giff works. The background picture was a jpeg of Tom Hanks face imposed on a bear while the looped birds clips was ripped from the movie “The walking Dead”. The animated face that substituted the Tom Hanks face was Eddie Murphy take in the movie “Coming to America”

I want to step out of my student identity that I have online and start having my Director/Digital media artist identity step in. I currently have a group website, with my production team Pantheon Cinema. Within that site my production work down along with my bio and merits. This is the identity I’m working to build and want to be identified with the most. And with every group video my team and I make the more views our website gets and we become acknowledged more. I hope to continue to build more work and to have recognition for it as my “fan-base” grows with my work being exposed.

Portfolio or no portfolio? Linkedin profile? Youtube? Twitter? Facebook? Comments on blog posts from a class? What out there on the internet is associated with your real name? Have you looked?

Do some ego-surfing. Google yourself. Facebook yourself. Add keywords like “New York” “York College” “Video” “Design.” What turned up? What’s the first site that pops-up? Was it you? Was it what you’d want to show up first?

In a blog post describe what you discovered when you searched your real name. Then describe what your plans are to cultivate results that you’d like to see. You may want to have a portfolio that’s the top result and associating your real name to a WordPress install with your real name as the title would help a lot.

But you don’t necessarily have to do that. You could have your real name point to a Facebook profile that’s completely private. And that’s ok. Read Danah Boyd’s article on the ‘Tyranny of Real Name Policies.’ She has an interesting perspective on the value of pseudonymity online.

These are a few examples of portfolios out there, a couple of which are Comm Tech alumni:

When i google searched myself, i realized that my portfolio (blog) doesn’t show up first. Instead, the work that i’ve done in most of my classes showed up. This can only mean one thing; My portfolio is not organized or linked to all of my work. Im not much of a blogger, so to further enhance my identify on my portfolio i need to link all of my work to it, so when my name is entered in google search, my portfolio which initials all of my work, will pop up first and my work can be visible.